大象传媒

I was taken by boat to the S.S. Jan Lievens. No one was on deck, which was unusual. Two gunners had to patrol the ship twenty-four hours a day on sabotage-watch. My gear and kit were still in the boat. I went down to the gunner鈥檚 quarters and all the ratings were drinking tea and playing cards. I asked if the sabotage watch was among them. Two men admitted they were. I told them to get in the rig of the day and get on deck until their four hours were up or they would be put ashore for punishment, and anyone else who committed the same offence.

I detailed some hands to get my gear out the boat and put in my room. I examined the armaments and found a four-inch high and low angle gun, a Bofors, a twelve-pounder on the forecastle and two Oerlikons each side, port and starboard, four altogether. I signed the defect book and P O left the ship.

I went amidships to meet the captain. I saw the officers drinking spirits in the steward鈥檚 room. I asked the steward, 鈥淐an I have my tot of rum please?鈥� All those in the room laughed at me, one of them said, 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 get tots on here gunner.鈥� I asked where the Captain鈥檚 room was. They pointed upstairs.

I knocked at the door and a voice called, 鈥淐ome in.鈥� and I met him, the skipper. He seemed to me a very large man, weighing around 17 or 18 stone. 鈥淚 am your new PO Gun-layer Sir, and I am going to make this ship, if left alone, I hope, a very happy one.鈥� He shook hands with me, and I could tell that he liked me. As I was leaving, I turned back showed him my pay book, 3 pence a day grog. 鈥淐ould you let the steward know, Sir, that I have a tot of rum every morning at 11 a.m.鈥� The skipper picked up his phone and spoke I think to the steward. I enjoyed my tot and I saw no one laughing.

That evening we sat at the mess table for our evening meal. Just before the end, someone asked, 鈥淲ho鈥檚 washing dishes tonight, whose turn is it?鈥� One of the lads went to the list, looked at it, turned and said, 鈥淚t鈥檚 the POs turn.鈥� I said that POs do not wash pots, the PO tells his serfs to do it. The two men who should have been on watch that afternoon were sat there. I said to them, 鈥淵ou two are peggies, you go for the grub, you take the clean kits back to the galley, you scrub the bathroom and toilets out, you bring the pot of coffee down at stand easy. I will put men on every morning to scrub the mess room decks and clean the guns, etc and if you fail, I will put you ashore and Lt Cr Wilson will put you on a dirty Greek ship, with sheep living on the deck, and you will live on mutton.鈥�

Next morning, I was having breakfast when a ship鈥檚 officer came into the mess. He said, 鈥淚 am the second officer gunnery officer, pleased to meet you鈥�. He shook hands with me and then said, 鈥淗ere is your working party list for your gunners.鈥� I was still eating my bacon and eggs, but I stopped for a few seconds and tore his list up. I said, 鈥淭hat鈥檚 the second list I have ripped up. I am the PO Gun Layer aboard this ship. I am in charge. I give orders to the men, not write to them - the officer in charge of me is Lt Cdr Wilson. If you don鈥檛 like the way I do my duties, like I was trained to do, see him not me. You are not my gunnery officer, he is.鈥�

After that we settled down to an easy, quiet life. We had, beside our own gunners, two Merchant Navy Dutch owners called John Viser and Bert Quelch. We went round the Mediterranean and to Alexandria a lot. The Navy barrage balloons people used to invite me to their mess for a few points of beer and gave me a white puppy I called. With our ship being a coal burner she was always black and used to go under the shower with me every day.

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